Flower Song
by satscout
Summary: The story of Hitsugaya's daughter Hana, who (the little willful stubborn bleep) hijacked the story and turned it into a Naruto crossfic. Sequel to Silence and Ice Song. Yes there is a smattering of romance in there, but it's less about that and more about her sort of coming of age. And it's written in backstory style of two different manga... yes it's complicated...
1. Strawberry

Chapter 1: Strawberry

The black and purple, glistening butterfly came to rest on Hitsugaya's shoulder.

Sharon had told him she thought them beautiful. He thought, as messengers, they did the job. The message this one brought made him alert. Instantly.

"Video boy, I'm here kicking your butt and saving Kurosaki's, but I'd rather be somewhere else just now.

"My daughter is born."

Unohana wiped Sharon's forehead. It had been a particularly difficult delivery, and she was finally quiet.

Matsumoto held a tiny baby girl whose eyes were squinched shut, with a fine dusting of pale silver hair with just the slightest gleam of red when it caught the light.

"They named her Hana."

Unohana looked up.

Matsumoto continued quietly. "They named her something they could agree on. She wanted a name in English. He wanted a name in Japanese. She had originally wanted a daughter to finally name Anna Rose. He said Hana meant 'flower'. So they came to a compromise."

She groaned as a pungent smell arose from the small bundle. "And I'm not sure I'm going to forgive either of them for declaring the 'you choose, you lose' rule. Just because I want to cuddle Hana doesn't mean I should have to change her diaper. Didn't Sharon say newborns could go through 12 to 15 diapers a day?"

Unohana chuckled quietly. Matsumoto had no clue. Then again, who knew what could result from Hitsugaya fathering a child?

It was only because of the rather compelling argument that Soul Society didn't - and wouldn't - have access to disposable diapers that Sharon had been convinced to use the soft cloth diapers Ukitake-taichou had insisted on donating for the baby's benefit. They had even been assigned a rotation of students from the Academy to help wash and dry them. Once a day, the one who failed the most astoundingly in either combat, kido, or grades, or sometimes the one who the teachers decided needed that little extra discipline, would be sent to collect the dirty pile and carefully wash each one and hang it to dry.

Of course, in exchange, the students would get a chance to hold little Hana. So it wasn't entirely punishment. Unless she decided to fill another diaper at that moment, anyway.

Ginjo Kugo sneered at Kurosaki Ichigo. "Why do you think that you were given your badge in the first place?"

"... What do you mean?" Kurosaki was intent on every word. Ishida glanced in surprise.

"Listen well, Kurosaki. 'If a substitute shinigami is classified as a "benefit" to Soul Society, they will award you with a badge.' When they gave you your license... they probably said something like this.

"That's a lie.

"More accurately... it doesn't matter whether you're a benefit or not to them. A benefit, or a danger... they award you a badge either way. The badge's formal name is the 'substitute shinigami combat approval license'. It's a license approving you to fight in the real world."

"I know," Kurosaki responded quietly.

"But have you ever experienced its authority at all?"

"You're saying that the badge has some other purpose?"

"That's right. The badge's true purpose is to observe and restrict you. The badge lets Soul Society know where you are at all times - and additionally, whenever you have the badge with you... your reiatsu was suppressed. Didn't you think it was strange? Your reiatsu is so powerful as a shinigami that it rampages whenever you're angry. But it didn't do _anything_ while you were in human form. And when you used your badge to activate your fullbring... your reiatsu came rushing out of the badge itself? Or when training for your fullbring... you heard your friends' voices through your badge? The badge is at once a surveillance device for Soul Society... and a device to absorb, analyze, and control your reiatsu. You were given your badge solely to control you. That's the truth. And... don't tell me that you've never had this suspicion. You merely repressed it. Subconsciously or not. Those that you thought, baring your soul... would never betray you. You only wanted to believe.

"Didn't you? Ichigo.

"Let me tell you the identity of the man behind this scheme.

"Captain of the Thirteenth Division - Ukitake Juushiro."

Ginjo's voice rose to fever pitch. "We were both conned! By the most peaceful man of the Gotei 13 himself! Ichigo! He wanted to observe us, to control us, and use us as Soul Society's pawns! And above all, to execute us should we rebel!"

"Kurosaki!" Ishida yelled.

"This truth is known by everybody in Soul Society except you! They're leaving you to die!"

"Don't listen to him, Kurosaki!"

"SHUT UP!" Kurosaki screamed.

"Bankai!"


	2. Flower

Chapter 2: Flower

_Soul Society, months later_

Kurosaki Ichigo stood just inside the door to Hitsugaya's office. What brought him there seemed no longer important.

For two things immediately caught his attention: The first was that Hitsugaya's desk was, for once, absolutely clean. No towering piles of reports waiting for reading, processing, and signature awaited the Tenth Division captain.

The second was a woman.

She was obviously a shinigami; the uniform told him that much. He had never seen hair that... red, before, though. And she was rummaging through some bundles he couldn't quite see.

"Oh, good, you're here... hmmm. Good. You wear yours over the shoulder. That makes it easier to carry her in a sling."

Ichigo stood, dumbfounded, as the woman fitted him with a sling over his left shoulder. She expertly arranged it around Zangetsu's hilt, and then placed in it - a baby.

"What the..."

"She should be all right for a while; I just fed her. Extra bottles are in her bag. Lots of diapers too. Yes, I just changed her. But when the time comes, they tell me it helps if you think of the things you want to protect."

"Huh?"

"You're new - you obviously haven't had Hana-chan before - so I'm just telling you what I tell all the newbies. When you change her diaper for the first time, just remember all the things you want to protect. It's really not so bad."

"But why am I -"

The woman had her hands on her hips. "You've probably been in the field... you look totally clueless. I can't stay long. Hana-senpai is waiting. We have Rukongai duty today, and if we get done in time, we can go see Obaa-sama. And Toshiro asked me to take her a present next time I went, so I want to make sure we get to see her."

"But Toshiro is who I -"

"That's Hitsugaya-taichou to you. You must be American. They usually forget at first. But around here, you call him by title."

Ichigo felt stunned. He must have looked as stunned as he felt, for the woman continued, this time more gently.

"You remember when they screwed up all the zanpakuto? Were you around then? Anyway, that crazy dude - Muramasa? - tried to convince Hyourinmaru to leave Toshiro. At first, it didn't work - after all, he had a mate, an offspring, and two humans who love him dearly. Finally, he had to erase his memories to get him to leave. Scout was furious. But he couldn't leave Hyourinmaru alone. In order for his scheme to work, he had to have _all_ of the top-ranking zanpakuto on his side. So he bound her and took Hyourinmaru with him. Hyourinmaru and Toshiro ended up getting in a big fight. Toshiro kept trying to get him to remember. Finally he laid in on him with some kind of attack that left them both on ice, literally - when they were in stasis together, Toshiro forced him to remember. From the very beginning. From back when he was with Obaa-sama and when he first met Rangiku-san all the way to when he first saw him in his dragon form. Finally, Hyourinmaru remembered. But the fight took a lot out of Toshiro. He was injured and sick, laid up for quite a while. Hyourinmaru never left his side - OK, unless I chased him out so we could examine him - and when the whatever it was that made them able to manifest abated, he was able to be with Scout and Ice Song again. But it was a nasty business."

This version of events was not what Ichigo had remembered of that particular fight. He had been too busy trying to free himself from an ice prison to notice the particulars, but when he broke free, Hyourinmaru the dragon was protecting a wounded Toshiro. All that had mattered was that Hyourinmaru was no longer under Muramasa's control. But a mate? And an offspring? Exactly just when had _that_ happened? Who were Scout and Ice Song? And if they were zanpakuto, then whose? Just what the hell was going on here?

Just who _was_ this woman, anyway?

"I have to leave. I'll be back to pick her up later this afternoon, but by then, Toshiro should be back, and he will probably want her to himself for a while." A smile curled the corner of her mouth. "He may look like a boy, but he's really quite a man. And a good father too."

The shock registered on Ichigo's face after she left and the implications of what she had said sunk in.

He was holding Hitsugaya Toshiro's _daughter_?

He peeked in at the bundle cradled in the sling. Little Hana-chan. She was beautiful. Perfect. He was tempted to peek but afraid to touch her too much. Then she opened her eyes and looked up at him with the most brilliant emeralds he had ever seen. She smiled.

And an awful smell filled the air.

In a panic, Ichigo pulled her from the sling, expecting a sopping mess. To his surprise, not a drop had escaped the diaper. The sling, the blanket, everything was completely clean and dry. Except her bottom felt... squishy. But it was all contained. This was nothing like the diapers he had seen in the Living World.

Just in time, Hitsugaya came in.

"Toshiro, what the hell is going on?"

"Kurosaki, what are you doing here?"

Then Hitsugaya saw him holding Hana, the smell registered, and he couldn't help it. He started laughing. He tried to hold it back at first, but it was just too funny.

Ichigo yelled "What's so funny?" That only made Hitsugaya laugh harder. He motioned Ichigo over to his desk and indicated he was to put Hana down on it. He got out a clean diaper and wipes, and a small bag. Then he said, "I'll have mercy on you this once and show you how. I don't suppose you were old enough when your sisters were babies to have learned how to change a diaper."

Hitsugaya quickly and efficiently opened the diaper and cleaned her little bottom. The accompanying flare of reiatsu felt almost like a flame. Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise. Moments later, the dirty diaper was in the bag along with the wipes, and a clean, dry Hana was back in the sling in Ichigo's arms.

"Wait a minute. Why do I have to carry her?"

Hitsugaya chuckled again. "You pulled Hana duty, it seems. She even fitted you with the sling. I would have to fight to try to put that thing on myself, and I never can pull the strap right. Besides, regardless of why you originally came, it's probably good that you are here now - I was going to see Ukitake, and it probably wouldn't hurt to bring Hana. And you."

"Why did she call me an American?"

With raised eyebrow, Hitsugaya said "Of all the things you could have asked, you picked that? You probably called me Toshiro. Again. I've told you a hundred times to call me Hitsugaya-taichou. Most of the shinigami know better, but the ones from America usually call me Toshiro until they figure out the difference between a given name and a surname. So if you called me that in front of her, of course she would think you were from America, especially with that hair."

Ichigo thought about that for a minute. "So why does _she_ call you Toshiro then?"

Hitsugaya smiled, all the way to his eyes. "She has earned the right. She is my wife, after all."

At that, Ichigo sat down. The information overload was just a bit too much. From the couch, he looked up at Hitsugaya. "You did seem a bit different, though I couldn't put my finger on it at first. You've gotten taller, haven't you? And your hair isn't as spiky. It's almost as if someone's been running her fingers through it all the time."

Hitsugaya swatted him. Ichigo just chuckled weakly.

"Come on, you. And be careful. You're carrying someone very precious."


	3. History

Chapter 3: History

"What does all of this have to do with me?" Ichigo was getting a bit frustrated. Hana was sleeping, Ukitake was cradling a cup of tea, and Hitsugaya looked like a cat who had just finished a bowl of particularly good cream. The telling had taken a couple of hours, but Ichigo now knew about Sharon, Scout, Ice Song, and the events of the last couple of years. He had really missed quite a bit after defeating Aizen and losing his powers.

Ukitake set down his cup. "It matters because Hana-chan isn't that much different from you, Ichigo. Or Ginjo Kugo. Or anyone else with a particularly strong reiatsu who needs to be kept under surveillance."

"I was wondering how a mother could just dump her baby in the arms of a complete stranger and go off like that. Why wasn't she afraid that I would kidnap Hana? Or hurt her? And what on earth did she mean by Rukongai duty and 'Hana-senpai'? It's still pretty confusing."

Hitsugaya answered. "You weren't aware yet when the first kidnapping attempt happened, or you wouldn't be asking that." Ichigo startled. Hitsugaya continued, "Sharon is with the Fourth Division. What are the three phases of combat?"

Ichigo looked back and forth from Ukitake to Hitsugaya before answering. "I don't know what you mean. I know about offense and defense - what is the third?"

"Cleanup." Hitsugaya folded his arms. "There are shinigami who are good at offensive combat. Many of them end up in the Eleventh. There are shinigami who are good at defense. There are shinigami who are good at intelligence, research, etc. The ones who are good at cleanup - coming in after a situation is done and setting things right again - end up in places like the Fourth. We found early that she totally fails at offense, and is only good at defense if she is put against something or someone threatening someone she loves. But she is really good at cleanup, and she was trained medically before coming here. So the Fourth was a natural place for her.

"Unohana personally oversaw her training before she was officially made a shinigami. After Oshidamaru - her zanpakuto - relented and agreed to take katana form, she was officially made a Fourth trainee. That meant she could do what they do and train with them. You remember seventh seat Hanatarou?"

Ichigo remembered. Hanatarou had played an important role in helping Ichigo and his friends rescue Rukia from execution. He had a talent for flying under the wire and not being noticed - unless he was with Ichigo, it seemed.

"Turns out he and Sharon complement each other well, so they get paired up a lot. He teaches her about things she could have never learned about in the World of the Living, and she teaches him what she knows about the way healing works. And if you ask her, she says they are like a red rose and a white rose - apart, they are beautiful, but together, they are more than their sum. A red rose plus a white rose equals a Valentine's bouquet. But she is usually quick to add that though 'Hana-senpai' complements her, I complete her. It is as if we were two halves to a whole, and when we are apart, neither is what we need to be. The dragons and I tend to agree."

While Ichigo was digesting this, Hitsugaya added "And she has extended her love to all the people around her. That includes my obaa-san. Whenever they go to the Rukongai to practice - she says it's like being a med student in a clinic - they always try to go see her if they can." He got quiet. "I haven't been able to take care of her as well as I would like, and as a taichou, I don't have the freedom or the time to go see her. It helps that Sharon can go in my stead."

A frown creased Ichigo's face. "You said someone tried to take Hana before. Wouldn't that make her totally suspicious of any shady character who would want to kidnap her?"

Ukitake laughed at that. "That happened only once, and it was the first and last time anyone will try. Sharon had Hana with her and was out on Rukongai duty. She had put Hana in a carry-basket off to the side while she was treating a patient. All of a sudden, she looked and the basket was gone. She panicked and called for help. Not long after, Hana-chan must have filled her diaper, because someone tried to take off the one she was wearing. The resulting flare was felt for quite a distance. It is gratifying to know that they work. I'm still trying to decide what we will do once Hana-chan is potty trained. But for now, her diaper works as a monitor, an alarm, and a more mundane container for baby waste, all in one."

Hitsugaya continued, "And another thing we discovered is that anyone assigned 'Hana duty' ends up coming back... different. Sharon doesn't know, and we don't want her to realize it, but when the students who babysat Hana went back, especially if they had changed her diaper while they were watching her, they were better. Not some kind of 'babysit Hana and pass all your tests' better, but more like, if they were bad at kido before, suddenly things clicked and the techniques worked better. Or if they would lose focus during sparring, they kept their focus better. And it is said that when they have in their mind the people they want to protect, the effect is even more profound. We aren't yet sure what that means, but what we know is that Hana-chan changes people. Everything about her is new anyway, since a baby in Soul Society is pretty rare in any case, and a baby with a lineage like hers is bound to be unpredictable at best. So the ones who need help get assigned 'Hana duty', and many shinigami who come in from stints in the World of the Living end up getting 'Hana duty' as well. She probably assumed you were a rookie, and since you are obviously a shinigami, that you were safe."

"Then the one who really needs to pull Hana duty is Renji. His kido really sucks." Ichigo smiled, appreciating the irony and humor of the situation.

Hitsugaya took Hana from Ichigo and cradled her gently. His eyes got very soft.


	4. Living

Chapter 4: Living

"Rice will never be my favorite food, but when you make it, it actually tastes good." Sharon set her bowl down with some sense of satisfaction. "And on this side, it doesn't make me sick. Bonus."

Hitsugaya allowed a smug smile to cross his face. He couldn't help it. Her compliments on his cooking always left him feeling that way.

But this morning, he had more important matters to discuss, and that happy glow wouldn't last.

"What do you know about Quincy?"

Sharon cast him a quizzical look. "I didn't know you were into American television."

It was Hitsugaya's turn to look quizzical. "Television?"

"You brought it up. Quincy. I used to love that show. Back before they called it forensics, Quincy was one of the first murder mystery series to focus on the medical side of the investigation rather than the police side. I ate it up, along with stuff like M*A*S*H, Trapper John, M.D., Diagnosis Murder, and the like. Hey, did Jack Klugman die? Would he be here somewhere if he had?"

Hitsugaya's blank look made her blink a couple of times. He raised an eyebrow and tried again.

"Quincy have nothing to do with television and everything to do with why I think you and Hana-chan should take a trip to the Living World for a while, particularly Karakura."

"Urahara, huh? Let me guess, he's testing new gigai - again - and wants a guinea pig."

What Hitsugaya didn't want to say was, better that than staying here. What he actually said was "Something like that. And there is a Quincy I want you to meet while you are there. His name is Ishida. Contemporary of the shinigami you thrust Hana-chan at the other day in my office."

"Contemporary? That fellow looked like he was in high school. Must have died young."

"He isn't. Dead, that is."

"What?"

"That was Kurosaki Ichigo."

A look of comprehension washed across Sharon's face, followed by a wave of laughter. "I hope you explained me to him afterward."

It was infectious. Hitsugaya allowed himself to laugh - there would be precious little of it in the days to come - before he answered. "Yes, I explained you, and Hana-chan, to him. I don't think he will make the mistake of barging into my office again anytime soon. It didn't hurt that you told him off about my name. He can be so irritating..." He trailed off, introspective.

"Tell you what. How soon does he need me to get there? If we have lead time, maybe we can rest a bit before I go."

"No, you and Hana-chan both need to go fairly soon." War was coming to Soul Society, but she didn't need to be immediately aware of that. "I was hoping you could take her down later today."

At this, both of Sharon's eyebrows raised. "Pretty urgent? For gigai testing?"

_Too sharp by half_, he thought. "I think it would be best to go now while the crossing can be made safely - it will be more difficult with Hana-chan in tow, and at the best of times, you need to move fast through the passage." _I hope she doesn't ask more questions. Please, just trust me._

"OK. I'll want a few extra things, but I can probably get away this afternoon. Does sensei know?"

_Boy does she._ "She is aware of the situation and knows you are making a field trip. Don't worry."

Sharon nodded slowly. "I hate going alone, though. I like it a lot better when you are with me."

Hitsugaya's heart ached. He couldn't tell her he was getting her out of a war zone.

"We'll do something special, just the three of us, when you get back. OK?"

He took her in his arms and kissed her. He hoped she wouldn't notice he was kissing her as if he might never see her again.


	5. Gigai

My profoundest apologies - I obviously uploaded the wrong stuff last week in a hurry *facepalm* Here is the correct chapter 5, and chapter 6 following with Hitsugaya finally chiming in (no, he isn't happy about what I've done...).

* * *

Chapter 5: Gigai

"Urahara-san?" Sharon called out. A shy Ururu peeked out. Sharon waved at her before she scampered away.

"What a pleasure to see you, Hitsugaya-san!" As usual, Urahara waved his fan with a flourish. "To what do I owe the privilege?"

Sharon tilted her head to one side. "Toshiro said I was requested for checking out a new gigai..."

"Ah! Perfect timing. You remember the language issues we discussed before, yes?"

She nodded. It was partly her fault the language issues existed, after all. "The polyglot - and when a shinigami tries to go somewhere in gigai in a culture she or he is not from, they can't understand the natives worth a lick. Like the _last_ gigai you had me try, and I couldn't figure out how to get out of it, and you couldn't tell me because once I was _in_ it, I couldn't understand a word you were saying because you can't speak a bit of coherent English. Yes, I remember. Vividly." Yes, she wouldn't forget that incident any time soon. It felt as if half her brain had been cut off. Even her beloved Toshiro sounded like he was speaking gibberish, and she hadn't enough Japanese comprehension to catch more than her own name.

"You will be pleased to hear that the new and improved version has been built with the polyglot in mind - and based on extensive research, I think gigais could be made with most of the major languages coded in so a shinigami could go practically anywhere in the Living World and understand - and be understood. You are just the _perfect_ person to try it out for me."

"Have I ever mentioned to you that the biggest difference between you and Mayuri-san is that you are usually friendly and only sometimes creepy, while he is usually creepy and only sometimes friendly?"

"Now, now, there's no need for insults, Hitsugaya-san..."

"And I know exactly what field testing means because he is constantly wanting me to do it and I am constantly telling him no."

"But what could happen? Here you are safe."

"And here I have to trust the polyglot to be understood, and I have a baby to take care of. Before I agree, I have to know how to release the gigai - _in detail_ - and have it demonstrated... then I'll think about it."

"Ah, Hitsugaya-san, you drive a hard bargain... All right. I really do want to know if it works. I have a prototype programmed with English and Japanese that I designed with you in mind."

Sharon's eyes narrowed. "When Hana goes down for her nap. For now, give me the Reader's Digest version of the owner's manual."

"Picky, picky. But I would expect nothing less from the wife of Hitsugaya-kun." Urahara escorted her to the back with a flourish.

Meanwhile, Orihime, Chad, and Ishida showed up at the Urahara Shop. They wanted to know what was going on with Ichigo - and if they were in for more fighting.

They were met by a woman they had not seen before. The only truly distinctive feature was her red hair piled up on her head, a nondescriptive mass that complemented the freckles on her pale skin. She peered out at them from her glasses, blinked a few times, and smiled.

"Is Urahara-san here?" Orihime asked.

The woman replied, "Oh yes." She grimaced, just a bit. "He will be out momentarily."

"Are you a new helper here?"

She laughed. "Hardly. I suppose you could say I'm helping him, though."

"I'm Orihime. It is nice to meet you."

The woman tilted her head to one side, as if something were stuck in one ear. "What did you say?"

"I'm Orihime. Nice to meet you."

She held up one finger. "Pardon me a minute." The woman went back in the shop.

The three looked at each other, puzzled.

"Urahara-san, what on earth did you do to this gigai?" Sharon was releasing it as quickly as she could. "There are three kids out there asking for you, and one of them introduced herself - or at least I think that is what she was doing - as Weaver Princess. What kind of a name is that?"

Urahara frowned. Then he looked thoughtful. "Did she have sort of orange hair?"

Sharon looked back. "Strawberry blonde, yes. Friendly enough, but what the heck kind of a name is that?"

"Her name is Orihime. And yes, I suppose in English that would come out sounding like Weaver Princess. It looks as if the language unit needs some tweaking."

"You do that. _Before_ I try it again. Please. I know 'hime' means 'princess', but I didn't know 'ori' meant weaving. Wait - does that mean 'ori-gami' means 'weaving paper'? I love origami. But I thought 'kami' meant 'god'."

"It depends on the kanji. There are actually three kanji pronounced that way, one for 'god', one for 'paper', and one for 'hair'. So origami written with the proper kanji could actually be used for braiding hair."

"Wow. I didn't know that. But I'll stick with comprehension first and work on literacy later. I can't even name all the hiragana yet much less kanji - and I can only recognize Toshiro's name written down if it has the 'tenth' symbol next to it."

"Time enough for your language learning when things settle. For now, let's greet our other guests."

"So you are a Quincy? I would love to learn more about that." Sharon passed the tea to Ishida. "I had no idea about shinigami, before, and now there's a whole 'nother group to learn about."

"And we had no idea Hitsugaya-kun was married, let alone had a child," Orihime replied. She had taken immediately to Hana and was cuddling her. "That's a pretty girl. That's a pretty girl. She is so beautiful. And her hair - I can't get over how it is a deep red like yours but pale. It's almost as if you are looking at it through something, like ice."

Sharon took Hana back and smoothed back a stray lock from her forehead. "We don't really understand it either, but silver and red isn't exactly the most common combination. We were half expecting her to have some kind of strawberry blonde, or maybe a throwback gene, if such a thing were possible in Soul Society. But here she is." Hana gurgled as Sharon kissed her gently. "And it looks as if Little Miss here is going to sleep. Excuse me please."

As Sharon left to settle Hana down for a nap. Urahara leaned in close. "You do realize we will probably have to go to Hueco Mundo and take up a position there. I can't stress enough how much damage these people can cause."

"Is she coming with us? With a baby?" Ishida pushed his glasses up on his nose, which wrinkled. "Hueco Mundo is no place for a baby."

"Ah! But I have a plan for that, and I can assure you Hitsugaya-san will agree..." Urahara trailed off as Sharon entered the room.

"And I will agree to what?"

"To letting Hana-chan try a gigai herself."

"Are you nuts?" Sharon's face was stony. Her crossed arms belied her relaxed posture against the door frame. "What on earth makes you think I will agree to something like that?"

"The fact that she will be far safer that way than as a helpless infant you have to personally carry no matter where you go. And the fact that her development will speed up tremendously if he has access to the advanced neurosystems in a gigai."

"Out of the question. And not just because I would want to discuss this with Toshiro first. You just went up a few notches on the creepy scale, dude. That is one contest with Mayuri-san you do _not_ want to win."

Urahara put on his best salesman smile. "Hitsugaya-san," he said in a singsong kind of way. "You know my gigais are perfectly safe. And you yourself know that every time you wear one, you learn something."

"Yes, and I'm a grown, _consenting_ adult. She is not. The answer is no."

"How much do you know about Hueco Mundo?" Chad asked quietly.

Everyone turned to stare at him. "Hueco Mundo? The Spanish-named place? More than I care to ever know. Though with Aizen gone I dare say it's a far better place. What does that have to do with Hana wearing a gigai?" Sharon's face became unreadable. She definitely did not like where this conversation was going.

Urahara grew serious. "Everything, since we will be there soon and so will you. I meant what I said about her being far safer. Surely you know that Soul Society is going to war..."

The shock on Sharon's face made it plain she had not.

"... and that Hitsugaya-kun sent you to me precisely to keep you safe from it. Oh..." He trailed off. "I see. This changes things a bit. And you really honestly don't know about the Quincy..." He sat thinking and sipping his tea for a few minutes. Everyone got lost in their own thoughts. "I think it is time for a history lesson."


	6. Travel

Chapter 6: Travel

In the end, Hana got a gigai.

It was quite a surprise to all involved.

When wearing it, she looked for all intents and purposes like a 16 year old girl. Sharon and Urahara both agreed that her distinctive hair would be better kept short. She wasn't even a year old, after all. Nobody expected her to adapt so well or so quickly, though.

Hana had a shy smile and eyes like emeralds glowing up under long, thick lashes. She charmed everyone who saw her. And Urahara was right about one thing: The gigai did speed up her development, at least in language processing. It was clear she would eventually have an incredible intellect.

But for now, she was just a shy teenager that nobody would suspect wasn't a teenager at all.

"Owie owie owie owie..."

_That was not a friendly fall... and where's Mama?_

They had dressed Hana in a simple T-shirt and pants - no snaps, buttons, fasteners, or laces they would have to teach her to connect. But her slip-on shoes weren't quite good enough for the trip across to Hueco Mundo, and she fell. But she didn't just "fall." She fell and _kept_ falling. _What happened to the ground we were on? And where am I now? I didn't see any holes._ She accessed the memory of the gigai. _It still feels like_ Alice in Wonderland _though. Without the rabbit._

She was in a place where the ground was covered in an inch or two of what looked like water... but when she stood up, she was completely dry. She had not fully comprehended that when she looked up and saw pillars. Not just any pillars, but pillars that seemed to go up to the sky. She looked up, up, still further up, and saw... what was that thing? She accessed her data again. A seal?

"Who are you?"

The quiet boom made Hana jump.

"What are you?"

She looked around frantically before looking... up.

"Where did you come from?"

_First question first_, Hana thought.

"My name is Hana, pleasedtomeetyou. I mean, pleased to meet you." She still stumbled over phrases sometimes. _I just need more practice._

Then she saw... fur? Just a patch, but near the bottom of one of the pillars, like the end of a giant... paw?

_Is that a gate? Or a cage? And is it holding that_ in, _or holding me_ out?

"What is your name?" Might as well try to be polite. Maybe it wouldn't want to eat her then.

A low grumble, sounding suspiciously like a chuckle, filled the space. "My name. Nobody cares about my name. Well, not many. Very well. My name is Kurama."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Kurama. Or is that Kurama-san?" Hana was getting confused. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay. I have to find Mama. Or To-san. Or somebody to help me get where we were going before I fell down."

"'Mama' and 'To-san'? To the second question then: What are you?"

Hana wasn't sure how to answer this. When teaching her about the gigai, Urahara and her mother had made her promise that she wouldn't try to tell anyone about the shinigami. It would only confuse the residents of the Living World unnecessarily. Then she had an idea.

"Mama is American and To-san is Japanese." _That should be enough without being too much. I hope._

The low chuckle made an echo that sent tingling through the gigai. This space certainly reverberated well enough. "An answer that is not an answer. Shrewd. Very well, my third question. Where did you come from? And its correlate, how did you get here?"

That, she couldn't answer without explaining things she didn't understand herself.

"I was with Mama and we were going too fast and I fell a long way and I landed. Your floor is hard." She rubbed her sore spots again, and tears started squeezing out of the corners of her eyes. "I want my mama. How do I find my mama?"

"I cannot help you find your mama. I can, however, try to get you out of this place."

"Thank you, Mr. Kurama. By the way, what are you, and how did you get here?" She thought it fair to ask since... he? ... had asked her.

The chuckle bubbled over into a quiet laugh, and he said "You really don't know. Innocent. Come closer then, Hana-chan."

She edged over to the nearest of the huge pillars and took a closer look at what really was a paw. She reached out involuntarily because that fur looked so very soft. Of course, it _was_ very soft. She stroked it wonderingly, then stretched her neck back and looked up, up, up... at what appeared to be the biggest fox possible.

"Wow." That was all Hana could say. She was utterly entranced by what was easily the most majestic animal she had ever seen. It easily outclassed anything in the gigai database, which was pretty much a copy of her mother's memories for reference. "You are beautiful."

Was the fox... smiling?

"That is not a word I have ever heard applied to myself. Even my host has not thought to call me beautiful. Powerful, yes. Many times over the years he has asked to borrow my power. And then he tried to take my power from me. We have come to a better understanding of late and now work together. But not beautiful."

"Please, Mr. Kurama, how do I find Mama?"

The giant head lowered, and the fox squinted one eye to take a closer look at Hana. "I do not know, but I think you have the key. What is that mark?"

Hana looked around at herself. She didn't know of any marks. This was supposed to be a brand new gigai. Then she saw it - what looked like a tattoo, shaped like a small flower. A cherry blossom, with five notched petals. She could just see it if she put her chin all the way down to her chest, as it peeked above the neckline of her T-shirt. "Oh no! Urahara-san is going to be mad that I marked up his gigai!" The tears, barely kept in check before, flowed down her cheeks freely.

"I do not know who this Urahara-san is, but he should have nothing to say about your own body, child. Regardless, you bore that mark when you came. All I can see about it is the chakra signatures. If you fill them, maybe you can go back where you came from. I cannot send you home, but I can try to make it so you can find the owners of those signatures." He mumbled and grumbled for a moment, and Hana felt a burning around the flower. "Someone I knew once used that jutsu to get from place to place. He used it to teleport, but I think it should suit to get you to whoever can fill those petals."

"Thank you, Mr. Kurama. You must be a nine-tailed fox, because those are the nicest, kindest, wisest foxes of all."

At this, the fox jerked as if stung. Hana didn't understand why.

"Nine tails, huh." He settled down as if to sleep. "Nine tails."

Hana tilted her head to one side, confused.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, child. Nothing you said was _wrong_. I am going to give you a little push and send you towards your first petal."

Hana felt as if a giant finger poked her in the back, and again she fell.

* * *

Hitsugaya (shouting): WHAT IN BLOODY - - -

Satscout (looks up from manuscript): Expletive. I wasn't expecting you for a few more chapters.

Hitsugaya: What have you done to my daughter?!

Satscout: Stubborn girl. Her own fault.

Hitsugaya: This isn't over.

Satscout: It's just beginning, dear... and it is, as I said, her own fault. I had this perfectly good Naruto story idea while I was working on this story... over a year ago now - I just picked it back up again in June (2014) and the document revision history showed I left off in August 2013. But even before that, she went and interfered. In the great Green Room of the mind, she was "mingling" with the Naruto characters and went and fell in love on me. Before I knew it, the original story I had in mind totally derailed, and she commandeered the Naruto story idea and changed it for her own...

Hitsugaya: IN LOVE? She's in LOVE? *growls* My daughter - MINE - only months old, and she thinks she's in LOVE?!

Satscout: Calm down. She's YOUR daughter after all and as such it's not a surprise she's a prodigy...

Hitsugaya: *stomps off in a huff*

Satscout: *shrugs* Hothead. Lovable hothead, but still. *sighs* Now to sort out the mess at the end of chapter 11...


	7. Shikamaru

Chapter 7: Shikamaru

This time, Hana landed not on the ground, but on a person. A _male_ person. A male person who looked to be what she appeared to be herself, a teenager.

And most embarrassing of all, she fell on him face to face.

Hana squeaked and scrambled off of him.

"Sorrysorrysorrysorry so sorry!" She felt a burn on her chest and looked at the flower. One of the petals looked dusted with pale green. Was this one of the people she needed to find?

Shikamaru wasn't expecting to be hit from someone falling. There wasn't anywhere nearby to fall _from_, not that he could see anyway. But all of a sudden there was this... girl... falling into his arms as if she had jumped and was expecting him to catch her.

Except she seemed genuinely surprised that he was there at all, and...

Was she _kissing_ him?

Probably not. She was scrambling off him so fast, he wondered if he were really that much of a turnoff for her.

_What the heck?_

_What a pain._

"Uh, hello?"

What do you say to someone who just dropped in - er, on - oh whatever?

The girl let out a startled sound and stared at him. With the most brilliant green eyes he had ever seen. Shikamaru blinked a few times. And with that hair... if he didn't know better, a lot better... she almost looked like she could be a cousin to Sakura. Maybe not quite a sister. But the faces were similar. And her hair... not really Sakura's pale red, but more of a red with... silver? Fire under ice?

"Hi" she whispered.

"Ah. Can I help you? Are you looking for someone?"

"My mama. And flower petals. I think. The pretty fox said they would help me find Mama."

Shikamaru blinked a few times. Was this girl crazy? Or just totally, hopelessly lost? Definitely simple. Maybe too simple.

"Shikamaru! Where are you?"

Ino called out to him, Chouji not far behind. "There you are! We're late. Whoa, who's that?"

Shikamaru looked over at the girl. "What is your name?"

She whispered again. "I'm Hana. Please, can you help me find my mama?"

Shikamaru ran his hand through his hair. "Apparently this is Hana. And she's looking for her mama, whoever that is. And she just... dropped in." He looked over at her. She appeared to be trying to see just how little space she could occupy. _What. A. Pain._

Ino looked her up and down at least twice. "You sure she isn't related to Sakura somehow? Could her mama be one of her mom's cousins or something?"

Hana's eyes were getting larger and more puppy dog by the second, and were filling with tears. "I really, really want my mama. Please."

Ino took Hana by the arm. "Aw, come on. I'm sure if we look around we can find your mama, okay?" She shot Shikamaru a glance. "And you can help find her too. And help explain why we're late." At this, Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Like he wanted to be the one responsible. But as the genius at planning and tactics, it was usually his responsibility to come up with reasons and/or excuses when something went awry with his team.

"Please, can we see if he's one of my petals first?" Hana looked over at Ino with those puppy dog eyes again.

"Petals? What petals? People aren't petals, Hana-chan. My family owns a flower shop; I should know." Then Ino saw the mark on Hana's chest, just visible above the top of her shirt. "Hey, is that a tattoo? They forgot to fill it in. And wait, whoever heard of a flower with green petals?"

"Please, it didn't get that way until I fell on... Shikamaru?" Hana glanced her question at him. "Please, the pretty fox said if I found all my petals it would help me find my mama. And that I should be able to find the petals because he put some kind of... whatchamacallit... 'jutsu' that would make the petals find the people. Or something. And since he was the first one I found and the petal is sort of half there, maybe he's the first petal. You know?"

Ino looked suspiciously at Shikamaru. "What exactly did you do to her?"

Shikamaru threw his hands up in innocence. "Not one thing! _She_ fell on _me._ Out of nowhere. One second I was walking and the next, she was... she fell... her face..." He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "she was the one who kissed me, not the other way around."

Ino's raised eyebrow said without words just exactly how much she believed him.

"If I try that again, would it make the petal turn all the way green? Do you think?" Hana looked at Ino, then Shikamaru, then Ino again.

"Try what again, Hana-chan?"

"That part where our faces smushed together. I think that's when it got green."

Ino choked. "You mean, kiss him?"

"Is that what it's called? Yeah, I guess. May I please try it?"

Obviously trying and failing to stifle laughter, Ino said "Well, Shikamaru? Should she try it?"

His glare only made her laugh harder.

"Fine. I'll try it. But no guarantees, okay?" He looked into Hana's eyes. He wasn't sure what he was expecting to see there. But it was painfully obvious this girl had no clue about kissing. Or about boy-girl relationships, or anything remotely of that nature.

So it was with careful gentleness that he leaned over and brushed her lips with his. Just enough to be a "real" kiss, but not enough to be even remotely... a kiss. Certainly not the sort of kiss for a girlfriend, but not bad enough to qualify with the kind you use for your mom and your aunt. And it was sustained just long enough that he could feel the chakra flow from him - to that mark on her chest.

_What in the heck just happened?_

Ino inspected the flower. "Looks like you were right, Hana-chan. Shikamaru was your green petal after all." She looked up at Shikamaru. "Definitely your chakra. Hana-chan, could you excuse us a minute?"

Ino drew Shikamaru and Chouji aside. "I don't know what's going on here, but we can't just let her go randomly kissing people, and we _really_ can't let her go collecting chakra. That's bad news on too many levels to count. Not to mention the security risk. I can almost hear what Tsunade-sama would say... never mind, she would send Hana-chan straight to ANBU and she'd never see her mama again. Whoever her mama is, or wherever her mama is. And she said she has a jutsu on her that will lead her to the people she needs... which means she may be a spy, possibly unwitting from the look of it. But she's obviously not in her right mind, claiming some 'pretty fox' told her what to do. I've never seen a fox who can talk, have you? Well?"

Shikamaru ran his hand through his hair again. _What a total complete pain._

* * *

Satscout: I'm still trying to figure out how Hana got herself a cameo in the manga...

Hana (grinning): The power of love, Mama...

Satscout: I would _never_ have put you in puffed sleeves though. Ugh. How on earth do you expect me to write that into the story?

Hana: You'll find a way, I'm sure *wide grin*

Satscout (sighing): We have bigger problems though... Toshiro hon, have you talked to your mangaka lately?

Hitsugaya (wary): No, why?

Satscout: Have you seen chapter 591 yet?

Hitsugaya (visibly paling, after reading chapter 591): You have _got_ to be kidding me.

Satscout: Please go reason with your mangaka so we have a world to return to after Hana's done playing over here, 'k? Or else Scout and Ice Song are going to be breaking medieval all over some serious Quincy butt a few chapters down the line.


	8. Chouji

Chapter 8: Chouji

"So pretty..."

The three looked over at Hana. She was staring at Chouji's back.

"What's pretty, Hana-chan?"

"So pretty... the wings... may I touch your wings? Are they soft too?"

Chouji blinked several times while Ino and Shikamaru exchanged a sharp glance.

"Hana-chan, there aren't any wings there." Ino tried to sound patient.

"Yes, there are," Hana replied stubbornly. "I can see the pretty colors. They're all folded down, but they're definitely for sure wings. See, right... here..." She looked like she was putting out her hand just over Chouji's back.

Hana remembered what her mama told her. No taking off the gigai, no matter what. But surely, surely it was okay to touch those pretty, pretty wings? And she couldn't feel the wings through the gigai... but if she just pushed her fingers a little bit past the gigai, she was so sure she could feel them. _I bet they're just as soft as they are pretty._

Chouji's eyes opened wider than Ino or Shikamaru had ever seen them. "I feel it," he whispered.

"Feel what?" Ino said.

"She's touching them. She's stroking them. I didn't know they were still there when... when I'm not... without the pills... but she's... I _feel_ it." Undisguised awe filled Chouji's voice. "They really are there. And she can see them. And she can feel them. I can feel her feeling them."

"So soft... so pretty..." Hana murmured over and over.

Ino and Shikamaru exchanged another glance and a half, at least. Shikamaru then said, after a very long pause, "Hana-chan, just what exactly do you see?"

"Pretty pretty wings... all shiny swirly colorful wings. And they're so very, very soft. Softer than feathers. Softer than... I don't know. Hey, are they made of reiatsu? Is that why they're so soft?"

Ino frowned. Shikamaru carefully asked "Hana-chan, what is reiatsu?" He wasn't sure what she thought she meant and he wanted to be sure before he decided what to do next.

"Reiatsu. Like... energy... I think. Reiatsu. Like when you heal somebody you fix the reiatsu first and then fix the broken place. What else would I call it but reiatsu? What do you call it?" Hana's obvious puzzlement confirmed what he had suspected already.

She was definitely not from here, or anywhere _near_ here, or anywhere _like_ here.

"Hana-chan. What you are calling 'reiatsu' we call 'chakra'. But I don't know anyone who can see dormant chakra like that, and certainly not wings on Chouji. You see, sometimes he _can_ have wings, but he has to make them come, and only then can anyone else actually see them. And not very many people know that he can have wings at all. It's a big secret, okay? Se-cr-et." Shikamaru let out a long sigh.

"Hi-mi-tsu?" Hana paused, thought, and said "Oh. Secret. Okay. I know about secrets. Nobody tells and it stays a secret, right? I can do that." She nodded vigorously.

Then Hana turned to Chouji and said "Could you be another petal? May I try smushing again and see if it works?"

Chouji's face got very bright red. It was enough to break the tension, and Ino was sniggering while Shikamaru was laughing outright. Shikamaru wiped tears from his eyes and tried to explain. "Hana-chan, it's called 'kissing'. And I don't see why you can't try, right, Chouji?"

If possible, his face got redder. Or at least it seemed to have taken on nearly the same shade as his clothing. Not every day a pretty girl walks up to him, sees his wings, _feels_ his wings, and then asks permission - ! - to kiss him.

Gruffly, he said "Hana-chan, I would be honored." But first he stared into her eyes. And she stared into his. And this time, when their lips met, it was a bit more than the kind of kiss you would give your mom, or your cousin, or your sister. It was a bit more like the kind of kiss you would expect a boy to give a girl. And Hana could tell there was a difference.

Wow, what a difference.

There was no flash of chakra, no filled petal. But when they separated, there was a glow in both pairs of eyes that wasn't there before.

"Uh oh." Ino groaned.

"Ouch." Shikamaru facepalmed.

"Like we really need them to fall for each other." Ino let out a long sigh. "As if things weren't complicated enough. Ah, guys, you do realize if she goes through with this, she will have to kiss at least four more guys, to fill the petals that is, and then she will leave, at least in theory? And lots more than that if we have to guess who they are."

Hana frowned. "I liked it better with Chouji. Is there a way to tell who the other ones are without having to guess?"

A thoughtful look crossed Ino's face before she said "Well, we could have Sakura take a look at you and see if she can tell from the petal sites whose chakra would fill them - like taking a mold and seeing what key would fit it. We have to go that way anyway, so a side trip to the medical tents wouldn't be that far out of our way." She nudged Chouji, hard. "And you get to be her personal escort."

At that, Chouji's face lit up. _Boy, has he fallen hard..._

Ino just shook her head. "Come on already." Shikamaru mumbled "what a pain" a few more times and followed. Chouji took Hana by the arm in as gentlemanly a way as he knew how and came along behind.

* * *

Satscout: Hey guys?

Hana: Huh?

Hitsugaya: What now?

Satscout: I know Karin's been a mess...

Hana: She jumps me whenever I try to finish chapter 11! The little [expletive] starts a catfight just because she's so bloody gaga over Sasuke... I just can't figure what she sees in him...

Satscout (sighing): I know, I know... Look. In case you haven't noticed, "real life" is creeping up on me.

Hitsugaya: Excuses, excuses. I get to argue my way out of zombiehood.

Satscout (shuddering): And your best hope is Mayuri-san? Scary.

Hana: Get to the point, Mama.

Satscout: The point is I may have to put you on hiatus after chapter 10 - or chapter 11 if we manage to bypass Karin for a few paragraphs.

Hana: Maybe Jugo will be willing to hide me?

Satscout: Worth asking him. In any case, the anime is already creeping up on where I would be at the beginning of chapter 12... but I don't have the time or energy to devote to putting it down in words because of the whole house hunting thing.

Hitsugaya: You mean after all this time you're moving? Tch.

Satscout: We _have_ been in this apartment 15 years after all. And with the renovations we'd have to leave anyway... So I'm apologizing to you in advance. Maybe I can fit in writing, maybe not... IF all the characters cooperate, it would go faster, of course.

Hana: Good luck on that. Little [expletive]...

Satscout (sighing again): Watch your mouth, child.


	9. Sai

Chapter 9: Sai

Sakura wasn't expecting visitors. There was a lot to prepare. War was coming, and as one of the best trained medical ninja, she had a lot of responsibility. Heck, having been personally trained by Tsunade herself, Sakura was probably the third or fourth most qualified medical ninja available - behind Tsunade herself and Shizune and maybe even one or two others. Even if she was one of the youngest.

She certainly wasn't expecting a girl who looked like she could be a cousin. And she wasn't expecting the story Ino and her team told her.

"Let me get this straight. Hana-chan here has some kind of chakra-gathering tattoo? And a talking fox told her that if she filled the petals she could find her mother?" Hana nodded mutely. She was too in awe of Sakura and in love with Chouji to have much in the way of words. "May I see it, Hana-chan?"

Hana pulled a little on her shirt and showed Sakura the flower. It wasn't much more than an inch, maybe inch and half in diameter. But one of the five notched petals looked as if it had been dyed as deep, vibrant green as Hana's eyes. And it was unquestionably Shikamaru's chakra. She looked up at him with a question in her eyes. Shikamaru nodded in response. She looked back down at the flower and gently ran a finger over the small petals.

"At least three I can be certain of, and one I can guess. This one is Sai, and this next one after might be Gaara, but I'm not 100% sure of that since I don't know his chakra as well."

Ino tilted her head. "You said you could be certain of three. Who are the other two?"

Instead of answering, Sakura turned to Hana. "Hana-chan. If you are really serious about finding them... it's going to be hard." She pointed at each petal. "This one is one of my teammates, Sai. I'm not sure how willing he would be to try to kiss you. And this one is a really important person that may be hard to get to see. He's a leader, a Kazekage."

Hana's puzzlement was obvious again. She thought a minute. "A wind... shadow? Is that what you said? How can a person _be_ a shadow? I though people _had_ shadows, not were shadows." Her face was all scrunched up, frustration leaking out.

Sakura's eyebrow raised. "You really aren't from here, are you, Hana-chan?"

"I just want to find my mama and go home. Or go where we were going to get away from the big war. Mama and Urahara-san and Orihime-san and Sado-san and Ishida-san were all going and then I fell and now I'm lost but it's not so bad here with Chouji and I wouldn't mind if it took a while because he's really nice and - " Hana finally stopped for a breath. "And I want the war to be all over so we can go home and be with To-san again. And Mama and To-san can be happy and I can be happy and no more fighting." Big tears were squeezing out of the corners of Hana's eyes.

"The other two?" Ino pressed.

Sakura took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It may be a while before we can find the other two. You see, this top petal here is Naruto." And she brushed her finger lightly over the petal pointing to the left. "And this one is Sasuke."

A trio of sharp breaths and unreadable expressions met this revelation.

"Hana-chan, would you like to meet Sai-kun? We can at least see if my reading is correct." Sakura didn't want to dwell on what it might mean for Hana to have to wait - or worse, to have to locate Sasuke, who had gone rogue years before.

Hana just nodded. She wasn't too pleased with the idea of kissing four more boys. Kissing Chouji again, maybe. Or maybe more than once. But four more kisses like the one Shikamaru had given her? Not so much.

It was rather anticlimactic when Sakura introduced Sai to Hana. He just tilted his head as he listened to the story, put on a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes properly, and said he was willing to help a damsel in distress.

But when Hana looked into Sai's eyes... she couldn't help stopping and really looking...

"Why are your eyes so sad?"

"I'm not sad... what do you mean?"

"I didn't say _you_ were sad. I said your eyes were sad. I think your petal will be purple... pretty but sad. Like your eyes."

Sai wasn't sure what to say to this. All those years of not expressing emotion, of not feeling emotion, and a total stranger is telling him what he was feeling? _Was_ he feeling? Was it obvious he was _feeling_ to everyone but himself?

Instead of trying to answer in words, he took Hana in his arms and held her close for just a minute. He wondered if this is what it was supposed to feel like to hold a girl. Not just the physical sensation of having a human being in his arms, but the emotion of it. Then the Sai who had been walking into things with his eyes open for so long, closed them. He kissed Hana gently, clumsily. As if he hadn't expected to need to learn how.

Chakra flared.

And Hana was right about one thing: Sai's petal _was_ purple, a deep rich purple that looked like it was dyed with the richest berries on earth.

And Sai regretted that Hana was so obviously besotted with Chouji. It would have almost been worth the effort to try to get to know this girl. Maybe he would have gotten to know himself, as well.

* * *

Satscout: The manga's about 60 chapters ahead of the anime... and I'm just now catching up to the anime... dang I need to write faster.

Hitsugaya: You think you have problems. I'm still trying to get through to my mangaka... he's not listening... it's Obon and they gave him a break.

Hana: When do I get to see Chouji again? *whining*

Satscout: Just be grateful I got you away from that psycho, ok? At least I finally finished chapter 11 and chapter 12. Now to figure out how to pull things together for chapter 13.

Hana: You can do it, Mama. Does the anime version help any?

Satscout: Some. It puts things into motion a bit better so I can "see" what's happening. I didn't realize just how hard writing backstory style was until I tried writing this... and it's worse doing it in "real time" rather than on a completed series because you can't see "what's next" until they broadcast it. More significantly... I need to write fast enough or I'll have to suspend uploading chapters, and I really don't want to do that until I have to.


	10. Gaara

Chapter 10: Gaara

It was a rather subdued trio that led Hana to where the Kages had met. None of them were eager to see what Tsunade would have to say about their now confirmed chakra collector, or her methods.

After hearing the whole story, Tsunade sat, fingers steepled, chin on her thumbs.

Her palms were tingling. There was a huge, huge gamble in front of her.

Now she may be the biggest loser whenever she bet money, but Tsunade generally won big when she bet other things.

She was alive, after all, when so many others... were not.

On the one hand, this Hitsugaya Hana was more or less a mystery. Nobody knew anything about her or her mysterious "mama", what war they were supposedly running from, what sanctuary they were supposedly running to, or where they came from in the first place. When asked, Hana just said they lived in "Seireitei", which was an odd name for a village, and not one Tsunade had ever heard of - and she liked to think she knew a good bit of geography of the surrounding countries. It certainly wasn't anywhere within the country of Fire, which Tsunade knew best as she was charged to protect it.

And it was a very bad sign that she had the ability to capture and carry with her samples of her ninjas' chakra. There were lots of bad things that could result from those samples getting into the wrong hands, and since they didn't know where Hana came from, there was no way to know she wasn't some kind of spy, willing or not, witting or not.

On the other hand... Tsunade had the gut feeling that Hana was a true innocent, a rarity. She certainly _acted_ clueless. And it was painfully obvious that Chouji was totally smitten with her, an added unwelcome complication. Not the kind of thing you want on your people's minds when they had a war to attend to. It was going to be hard enough with all those ninja from the five countries trying to work together and put aside their differences while dealing with homesickness for their own families and villages, much less a romance between one of her own and a total stranger.

The part that made her palms tingle, however, was this mysterious "chewed soo" (as Hana put it) that the "pretty fox" said would help her find her "petals". Whatever jutsu this was would, in theory, lead her to the owners of the chakra that would fill the petals of the odd sakura-shaped tattoo she had on her chest.

And one of those owners, according to Sakura, was Uchiha Sasuke.

Which meant, in theory, that if they put Hana out as bait, either she would find him - or he would find her.

Which also meant, in theory, that Sasuke would no longer be missing, and a large unknown element in the equation would be less of a problem when facing the other Uchiha currently being a thorn in their collective side.

But in order to get that far, they would have to get Gaara of the Sand, the current Kazekage - in other words, a ninja from a completely different country, much less village - to agree to give her a chakra sample.

To agree to kiss a total stranger.

Yeah, right...

Tsunade let out a long sigh. It was worth the risk. Now to get him to agree...

Hana had been waiting an hour or so alone when a young man came in to see her. She saw the red hair first - so much like Mama's - then the flower tattooed on his forehead.

"Hitsugaya Hana?"

She nodded mutely.

"My name is Gaara. I understand you want something from me."

Gaara hadn't expected a request like this. Frankly, it was embarrassing. It was bad enough he was expected to lead an army from the Five Nations. He was the youngest Kage, untried as a leader, only a Kage because his village didn't really trust him and it was safest for them to keep him high profile where he couldn't do any damage - and this even after the One-Tail had been removed forcibly from him.

To have another Kage approach him on the eve of war asking a "tiny favor" of this sort was unsettling.

What made it far worse is he had never kissed a girl before and had only the faintest idea of how to go about it.

And then he walked into the room to find this beautiful young woman seated before him. Yes, Tsunade had said she had already fallen for someone else. It was hard to imagine anyone _not_ falling for her.

"Your flower is pretty."

Gaara started. _His_ flower?

"I have a flower, a picture though, not a drawing like yours. Would you like to see it?"

The girl pulled down just a little on her shirt. She had a delicate sakura blossom tattoo, or so it appeared, with three petals uncolored and two, the one pointing right and the one pointing right and down, filled in with a brilliant emerald green like her eyes and a vivid indigo purple, respectively. A small coiled stem peeked out from beneath the flower.

She put her finger on Gaara's forehead above his left eye. "Your flower is a drawing. It's pretty."

Gaara digested this. She couldn't recognize kanji? "Mine isn't a flower. It's a word. Can you not read?"

"I can read perfectly well," the girl said indignantly... followed by a sheepish "in English, that is. Just not Japanese."

English? What the heck?

He decided to proceed delicately with her. "This is rather awkward. I don't get asked to kiss a beautiful woman every day."

The girl tilted her head to one side. "They said you are sou-taichou. Does that mean the shadows are taichous? I still don't see how the other lady is a fire-shadow and you are a wind-shadow. You look awfully solid to me. My To-san is a taichou," she said with just a hint of pride in her voice. "He is in charge of the Tenth Division of the Court Guard. But that's at home, and that's a long way from here."

A military kid. Great. How could it be possible that a military kid be so completely and utterly clueless? You would think she would be hardened, street wise. And what military, from where? Gaara was just as puzzled as Tsunade had been. Whose court did this girl's father guard?

"The term Kage is a title. Kazekage means that I am a leader in the country of the Wind. Hokage means a leader from the country of Fire. They chose 'Shadow' because we lead specially trained people who protect from the shadows, trying not to draw attention to ourselves."

The girl seemed to think about this a minute. She blinked a few times and then said "But isn't a war going to draw a lot of attention?"

Gaara was starting to get distracted by her big green eyes. "We have a lot at stake. A lot of people we want to protect. A very bad person, a very strong person, wants to make it so everybody thinks what he wants them to. We want to stop him before he succeeds in making that happen so the people we protect can be free."

The girl's mouth made a round O.

"But that isn't what you are here for, is it?"

She shook her head.

"You have the advantage on me. I've never kissed anyone before, and by all accounts, you have kissed at least three." He ran the tip of his finger lightly over the petal pointing left and down. "And I am to be the fourth, yes?" She nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving his.

Gaara felt like he could drown in those eyes. Instead, he tore his gaze away and looked down at her hands. "Here, let's start with something less... intimate." He placed her arms around his neck and his around her waist. With his left cheek on hers, he didn't have to look into those eyes.

She whispered in his ear, "I thought 'intimate' is what happened when Mama and To-san close the door to their room." At that, Gaara nearly choked. She really _was_ innocent. She had no idea about what happened between men and women.

"When I say 'intimate', I mean 'close', like something you wouldn't ordinarily do with someone. Like something you save for someone special. Like kisses usually are." He resisted the temptation to hold her closer, breathe in her scent. "Usually you don't just kiss anybody. You save kisses for the people you really care about. And you save kisses on the mouth for the person you love."

"Love?" She thought a moment, then said "You mean feeling all fuzzy inside when you look at someone?"

He wanted to look in her eyes again, so very badly. Instead, he said "There's love, and there's attraction. When you love someone, you want the best for them and you want to protect them. When you're attracted to someone, there is a feeling of... heat. And if the one you love and the one you're attracted to is the same person, and that person loves you and is attracted to you back, it can be really beautiful." His heart ached even as he said that, knowing she didn't yet understand, knowing she was already leaning towards someone else.

"Like Chouji? Like how even though he wasn't one of my petals, my chest got all hot when he kissed me?" Gaara could feel her cheek heat up when she whispered it.

"Yeah, like that." He was glad she couldn't see his face just then.

Gaara held her close a moment longer and then said "Let me see if I can help you, okay? But you have to make sure your eyes stay closed."

"Why?"

"Because when you're kissing, you're supposed to be concentrating on how it feels."

He started near her left earlobe, tracing a line of delicate featherlike kisses slowly down her cheek near the jawline. He would only have one chance at this, and he wanted to make it something he would remember. Something they would both remember.

One last kiss near the corner of her mouth, a pause, and then he placed his mouth on hers.

Chakra flared, and the third petal glowed a ruby red.

Gaara held the kiss as long as he thought he could possibly get away with it before breaking. It was still a pretty chaste kiss, all things considered, no tongue or anything, but it was plenty enough to leave him feeling like a ball of lava had settled right around where his heart should have been.

And the girl... her eyes remained closed nearly a full minute before she said simply "Wow."

Gaara allowed a grim sense of satisfaction to mingle with his sense of loss. He would most definitely remember that feeling. He would carry that feeling with him into the days ahead and remind himself that he was fighting to protect people like her. And he would carry the hope that someday, someone would look at him with eyes like hers, and her love and attraction would be directed at him.

Tsunade had arranged for a pair of messengers to escort Hana to the village of the Leaf. Before they left, Hana shared with Chouji what she had learned... when Gaara kissed her, it felt like hot sun on burning sand and scorching wind; when Chouji kissed her, she felt like melting heat inside and out. Almost, almost she didn't want to leave, didn't want to try to find her mama, didn't want to go back. But she had to try, and Chouji had a war to fight. Tsunade sent messages saying she was to stay with Sakura's parents and have a small allowance, and apparently she was to help with the rebuilding efforts that were going on after a major battle had destroyed much of the village. She was to be given some amount of freedom, as long as she didn't try to leave the village. But she had no desire to leave the village, since that was where Chouji would go when things were all over.

* * *

Satscout: Mayuri better fix this.

Hitsugaya: Excuse me? He's torturing me over there.

Satcsout: And I want you in one nonzombified piece when he's done. If he brings you back, I'll be willing to call him "Mayuri-sama" for a while in exchange.

Hana: Mama?

Satscout: I thought I told you not to go reading To-san's manga for a while.

Hana: Is it true? Rangiku-nee is zombified too?

Satscout: I could just about strangle the mangaka right now, but yes, it looks like it.

Hana: But it isn't Halloween yet.

Satscout: If he doesn't get a move on, it WILL be Halloween before they get your father back to normal. And please don't wake up the dragons... we really don't want them getting involved yet.

Hana: Mama?

Satscout: What now, honey?

Hana: You need to write faster, Mama.

Satscout: No offense, honey, but my life over here is complicated too... and soon enough I'll be catching up again since it takes so much screen and/or chapter time to explain what's going on. They're on what, 690? How much "time" takes place between where I am after chapter 13 and Naruto's "present"? Then I'll really be waiting for them - since anything I write would only have to be modified if they do something untoward in the manga **coughs** like let you cameo **coughs** and it's better for me to go with the mangaka's story.

Hana (pouting): You're saying I have to wait to see Chouji again, aren't you.

Satscout: Sorry, honey. Deal with it.


	11. Sasuke

Chapter 11: Sasuke

Thus it was that Hana found herself a guest, of sorts, in the home of Sakura's parents. They were warm and welcoming, seeing her as a friend of their daughter's, and were very helpful in answering questions and helping her learn what she had to in order to be of any use. She really wasn't much good at anything requiring skill, but she was eager to do anything that would make people jobs or lives easier. Her smile and her eyes became well known throughout the village, and if anyone needed something, they would say "just ask Hana-chan."

Some weeks passed, and her lonely feeling for Chouji grew. There had really been no news, and she hadn't expected any. Wars weren't fought in a day, after all. But the ache drove her to explore more and more of the village, the parts being rebuilt as well as what of the original had survived, in an effort to take her mind off of the one she loved. She had to admit to herself, what she felt for Chouji really was falling under the description Gaara had said - she wanted the best for him and wished she could protect him, and at the same time, whenever she thought about him, her face got hot, and that melting feeling would come back to her chest.

By day, she explored the village. By night, she explored the gigai.

Now Hana was already a curious sort, but the fact that she was in reality only a few months old meant she was in the most explosive rate of her growth and development. This coupled with the wealth of information available to her in the gigai's memory - most of it wisdom gleaned from her mother, which Hana was dead certain she would be angry about when she learned how Urahara had copied her memory wholesale like that - meant that Hana grew at an unprecedented rate in both adaptability and understanding. Her personality began to take an intellectual bent, and she was even more sorry that her mother didn't have a functional ability to read Japanese, as all the printed material in this Village Hidden in the Leaves - Konoha - was in Japanese. Of course. Why hadn't Urahara uploaded some Japanese literacy while he was at it? Because he was working on cross language fluency. Sigh.

So it was that when Hana was puttering about in a relatively deserted section of town and she felt a flare of reiatsu, she thought she had finally found... what? That was definitely a shinigami, but certainly none of the ones she knew. And definitely _not_ her mother. She followed the spirit energy to a place that looked like someone had just moved this huge block of stone, revealing descending stairs beneath it. Had better sense prevailed, Hana would have walked away. But then again, Hana was of course curious, and only months old, so the adventure of it was entirely too compelling.

Hana crept down the stairs just in time to see the shinigami she had felt disappear, and this odd fellow crowing about how glad he was to get his arms back. She watched as six funny white things were pulled out of this boy with black hair. They looked an awful lot like gigai, but they weren't. She tried to bend about to get a better look without being seen. Four of the not-gigai were put in big circles made of lots of drawn characters on the ground, while another one had a big snakelike thing come out of its mouth, and the sixth was... deflated, is the only word she could think of for it, by one of the two fellows in long capes standing with the boy.

She watched with amazement as the snakelike thing became the person who had been glad to get his arms back, and then moved his hands in funny ways and pronounced some kind of litany over the not-gigai. They morphed into four men; two of them bore marks that looked a lot alike, except one had a symbol she was beginning to recognize meant "three", and another the symbol for "four", on the back of a long white cloak. Three and four what? she wondered.

What followed was the most comprehensive history lesson Hana could have possibly hoped for, along with the knowledge that the "Sasuke" she had been waiting for had actually come directly to her, though he didn't know it yet.

She was still processing all she had heard when the snake fellow - Orochimaru, she had heard them call him... did that make him a "perfect serpent"? - called out to her. "You can come out of hiding, little one," he hissed. Hana jumped. She had honestly thought she was hidden. "Your chakra burns bright, too bright to escape my notice."

Hana peeked around the corner. "Begging your pardon," she squeaked. Then she bowed, or tried to. It was way too embarrassing, having all those eyes trained on her. All those male eyes. At least seven pairs, but it felt like a whole lot more. It was then she noticed that the four in the not-gigai weren't exactly... alive. In fact, they were most definitely not alive. How on earth did they get dead spirits into those not-gigai? She was pretty sure only the shinigami could use those. Or maybe the Visored she had read about in what Soul Society history was stored in her mother's memories. Something was definitely wrong, but she couldn't tell quite what.

Sasuke's eyes burned with a dark fire. She didn't sense anger, exactly - and what she did sense wasn't directed at her. It was as if she were incidental, annoying, and some insect to be dealt with before he went on to his next task.

Hana cleared her throat nervously. If Sakura was right, then this Sasuke was the one she needed to get her next petal; this meant she had to convince him, somehow, to kiss her. With her expanded understanding came painful waves of shyness. She hadn't really understood the implications of kissing before, with the others, even Chouji. Now, she did, all too well, and the prospect of asking for such a thing was daunting.

Sasuke had enough to digest with the astounding history he had forced from the four previous Hokages he faced, including the gross antipathy from the Second. His grudge against all that was Uchiha was a thorn in Sasuke's side. But it couldn't be helped - if he wanted to settle scores, both for and against Konoha, he needed the knowledge they had to offer. He needed Orochimaru too, for what it was worth, and he would do whatever it took to get what he wanted.

Even putting up with this girl, however briefly he could manage it.

"So what is your business here? Who are you?"

She stammered as her face grew red. "Hana. I mean Hitsugaya Hana. I mean, you're Sasuke, right?"

His gaze narrowed, and an eyebrow raised. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. Again, what business do you have with me?"

Her words came out all in a rush. "Sakura-san said you were the fourth petal. And someone named Naruto was the fifth petal. And when I get all the petals, the pretty fox said I could find my mama and go home. But then we found out that I had to k-k-k-kiss to get the petals filled, and I... and I..." She was blabbering nonsense. Sakura? Did she mean his old teammate, _that_ Sakura?

_Wait a minute... kiss?_ _She's trying to ask me to_ kiss _her?_

"We are in a hurry. Get to the point."

She took a deep breath, then visibly trying to calm herself, said "I followed the other shinigami, but it wasn't any of the shinigami I know. It wasn't Mama or To-san. I don't know that one, and I don't think Mama knew him either." She paused, remembering too late that she wasn't supposed to talk about shinigami. Oh well. "We were going away from the war when I fell. I was trying to follow Mama to someplace called Hueco Mundo. But I fell and landed in front of this huge enormous pretty fox. He had such beautiful soft orange fur. He said his name was Kurama and then pointed out my flower." She pulled on her shirt long enough for the multihued sakura pattern to show. The emerald, indigo, and ruby petals looked like jewels in the low flame light. "He said if I filled the petals then maybe I could find my mama again and go home. Or to Hueco Mundo. Or wherever as long as I could be with my mama. But then I met all these nice people, like Sakura-san, who showed me who the petals were, so they could get filled with reiatsu - I mean, chakra. And she said this one was you" - here, she pointed to the leftward petal - "and this one was someone named Naruto, and that you two would be the hardest to find. Except Kurama-san said you would eventually find _me_, and it looks like he was right."

Sasuke stood for several moments, processing. So this little chit wanted a kiss, and she was willing to make up an unbelievable story to get one. At least Karin was upfront about wanting him. But she seemed too... innocent. Sort of. Something was odd about the whole situation, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Until in a flash of inspiration, he finally got who "Kurama" was. At least, who Kurama _had_ to be. And that she had been a lot closer to Naruto than she could have guessed and never knew it.

Then the idea entered Sasuke's mind that he had the perfect opportunity to upstage Naruto with little personal effort. That was appealing. _Very_ appealing.

Hana looked nervously at Juugo. "Are you sure?"

Quietly, he said "Sasuke wants you to come. You are not a ninja. You cannot follow under your own power. Therefore, you need to be carried. I can carry you."

"Thank you." Hana looked over at the unfolding scene. They were outside the chamber, preparing to leave, when this redhead showed up, pounding on the squishy fellow... Squishy? It looked like he was trying to turn to water and flow away... what a strange place, with such strange people...

Then the redhead started blabbering incoherently and grabbing onto Sasuke. Hana tried to make herself as invisible as possible behind Juugo. Was this his girlfriend? No, it didn't seem like it, from the way he was acting. As if she were a tool, and he was putting up with her insanity because she had something he could use. Either way, she would cause a ruckus if she knew Hana was trying to get a kiss out of him. Best to stay clear of her as much as possible.

Then they were off, traveling faster than Hana thought possible. It wasn't the flash step To-san was so good at; it was more like these people were super-strong and could jump higher and farther than they should have been able to. She decided to close her eyes and just feel what they were doing... ah! Every time they "pushed off" they were boosting the jump with that "chakra" stuff. Reiatsu, but not reiatsu. Somehow these "ninja" were using "chakra" to bend their reality and defy what should have been the laws of physics.

This was surely about to get very interesting.

* * *

Satscout (rubbing eyes): What a total pain.

Hana (screaming and crying): No, no no no no NO!

Hitsugaya: What on earth is going on?!

Satscout: She read Naruto 692. And she's ticked that she didn't get a petal this chapter. AND she's ticked that he's balking about giving her one in negotiations for the post tsukiyomi chapter down the line.

Hitsugaya (scratching head): I figured she'd get her petals one per chapter, then you'd cross back over, right?

Satscout: Not so fast... Naruto wasn't too bad to talk to. He just asked me to keep a scene I was going to delete. Sasuke, on the other hand... is being a bit... difficult. He doesn't want to talk, says Hana is as bad as Karin (little psycho [female dog] who held up this chapter forEVER), and is refusing to cooperate. He says if we want a chakra donation, either find another way or find someone else.

Hana: No, no, no, no NO! I want Chouji back *sniffles*

Satscout: May I remind you that this is entirely your fault?

Hana: MY fault? How?

Satscout: YOU were the one who commandeered the Naruto story idea and refused to back down. YOU were the one who fell in love with Chouji, when the original story was for Gaara to fall for someone from Konoha. YOU were the one who insisted on kissing as the means of energy transfer. So don't complain if you aren't getting what you want. I'm having enough trouble figuring out how to transition into the tsukiyomi from where we are in chapter 14. And that wouldn't be an issue either if SOMEONE hadn't gotten herself a cameo in chapter 678 - as if I have any idea how in the bloody hell you did that.

Hitsugaya (raising hand): Excuse me? What's with the brackets up there?

Satscout: Keeping this dialogue level T if it kills me. I refuse to go M just because circumstances beg for foul language. I'm saving the foul language for the mangaka who left you in Mayuri's not so kind hands. Any luck with that, by the way?

Hitsugaya: At least he redirected the scene away from me writhing in agony. And Mayuri took control from the zombie queen. No telling if he'll let me come back otherwise.

Satscout (head in hands): What a total pain...


End file.
